Olympic basketball to boutique boxing gym is an unusual career path, but it’s what this Blackheath woman has done.

Natalie Gyte is a former GB athlete, competing at the junior Olympics and in the UK national league for over ten years, before taking to the turn to boxing.

Speaking to News Shopper, she said she took up boxing to keep fit after she stopped playing basketball and was told she would be good in a fight.

Ms Gyte said: “I couldn’t say no to a fight. I didn’t have that much experience and I only had training with other boys who went easy on me because they didn’t want to hit a girl.

“As the date got closer I got more and more petrified but I did really well. I got called for a standing count in the first round and I thought well I must be rubbish at this, but I stepped up and ended up winning.”

Now that she’s been boxing for two years, she’s decided to take her newfound passion to help others get fit with her new studio.

She said: “People are less and less interested in mainstream gyms because people are locked into a membership.

“People want a more personal service because many people don’t know how to use gyms or even know how the equipment works.

“Boxing is a great way to keep fit. You get so much adrenaline from hitting something you don’t even realise how tired you are.

“I looked around Greenwich and couldn’t find anything that was doing something like this.”

The club, called Punch Club, has opened a studio in Blackheath and classes start on June 17. For more information go to www.punchclub.london